Cafe Hollander, Benelux And Centraal Completely Shut Down

WAUWATOSA, WI — After Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers ordered all bar and restaurant dine-in facilities closed Tuesday, many businesses switched over to carry-out, curbside or delivery options to keep their establishments up and running.

This week, the Lowlands Group, owners of Cafe Hollander, Cafe Benelux, Cafe Centraal and the new Bucktabon restaurant in Wauwatosa, said they're closing all operations, and aren't taking any chances.

Related Reading

Coronavirus Changes: Walmart, Mayfair, Pick 'n Save, More

Wisconsin Coronavirus Tracker
More Hospital Beds Needed
Coronavirus Closures: Walmart, Woodman's, Target, Mayfair, More

• Sign up for Patch alerts and daily newsletters. Don't miss local and statewide news about coronavirus developments and precautions.
• What's going on in Wisconsin? Find Out Here
• Want to submit an article? It's easy.

"Lowlands Group has decided to pause all operations for the time being, effective immediately," restaurant owners said this week. "We have explored every option of how best to move forward, but looking out at the expected length and scope of this crisis, we don’t feel that remaining open for delivery and carryout is worth the risk to our employees."

According to a news release posted on the Lowlands Group website, owners said they're offering their employees some extended benefits in the midst of the shutdowns, including:

• Paying hourly staff through Sunday, March 22 at 40 percent above minimum wage.
• Continuing to pay 75 percent of salaries to key salaried staff.
• Creating a back-to-work bonus program to reward key, laid-off hourly staff who choose to return when restaurants re-open.
• Offering to pay 100 percent of insurance costs for April including the employee portion so that families are covered.

Lowlands owners said they also distributed all of their restaurants' perishable food inventory to staff to share with their families

It is our biggest hope that as the result of everyone’s increasing precautionary measures, that this will pass soon and we all can start returning to a somewhat “normal” pace of life," officials said